Roseisle Community Broadband Project

Super Fast Broadband

If you are a local resident in one of these following postcodes IV30 8XN – IV30 5YP – Iv30 5YQ – IV30 5YP – IV30 5YE – IV30 5YG – IV30 5YF then this post may apply to you if your broadband speed is less than 2MBPS.

Although telephones to these postcodes are attached to the Hopeman exchange which is super fast fibre-enabled, it is unlikely that some of these postcodes will be able to benefit from this service due to the distance they are located for the exchange. Many of the lines to these addresses in the area use the old copper wire systems which were never designed to handle the demands of the internet age and you may struggle to achieve an internet download speed of more than 2MPBS. In the meantime, as most houses, these days have some WIFI enabled devices such as Computers, Tablets/Ipad, TV, Internet Radio, Smartphones or other newer devices such as Amazon Alexa ETC. They all place a demand on a system that was never designed to support these new technologies. Looking at BT Openreach information it is unlikely these postcodes will be included in an upgrade to a faster broadband until at least 2020/21.

As our use of these devices increases over the next few years, the local broadband service will diminish in terms of speed and capability to supply even the most basic 2MBPS required to run the most basic of internet needs.

Is there an option to this?

The Roseisle Community Broadband Project

Its Aims and Objectives:

As a local resident, I have contacted BT Openreach to see what can be done to improve the broadband service to the area and the following information could provide a possible solution to the fact that we are unlikely to see any provision of Fibre to the area until 2020/21.

Taking advantage of the Scottish Government’s commitment to faster broadband for rural communities.

We believe it is possible to access substantial grant money to assist with this, by local residents applying to Digital Scotland via the Highlands and Islands Enterprise, for a £350 voucher towards funding a superfast broadband solution – there are many examples of other communities who have successfully done this. Individual vouchers can then be combined and used towards a BT Openreach community broadband partnership. This means that BT Openreach will also put funding in of up to 75% of the cost. Here is the link if you wish to read more about it: https://communityfibre.openreach.co.uk/.

The more interest we can gain from local residents and businesses, the bigger the chance we could be successful and the lower any cost to the community and residents would be. So even if you aren’t personally currently interested in receiving faster broadband, hopefully, you would be willing to add your support to this for the community as a whole. Having superfast broadband is often one of the top requirements for house purchasers and will add to the attractiveness of living in the Roseisle area. As more broadband services such as Netflix, Amazon prime etc are used, this creates a bottleneck which will only slow our current broadband down even further into the future if we do nothing. And if we do nothing as a community, the current Highlands & Islands Enterprise rollout plans mean it is unlikely we will see any rollout of faster broadband before at least 2020/21.

If there is enough community support, including local businesses in the area (to whom we are also writing), we shall be able to approach BT Openreach to start putting some costings together and provide a quote to see whether the £350 voucher eligibility per household would cover the upgrade to superfast broadband. The more people who agree to apply, the more feasible the upgrade is. BT Openreach also contribute to the cost, so we are hoping that with the collective vouchers it would cover all the costs.

Action:

So, at this stage we are not asking you to do anything, other than to let us know if you would support this, and if – when the time comes – you would be happy to apply for one of the £350 vouchers – this does not commit you to anything nor commit you to taking out broadband if you don’t want to – but it would assist the whole community by adding another voucher to the “pot”.

If you are happy to add your support, could you email me at leshuyton@roseisle-news.com or call 07532 404 249 or alternatively we will try and get around to as many of you as we can to answer any questions and check if you are prepared to add your support to this community initiative. Only if we get enough support will it then be sensible to contact BT Openreach to discuss a possible community fibre project. We hope you will add your support to this and become part of the Roseisle Community Broadband Project.